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By Ravi Ladduwahetty

A new chapter of Sri Lanka's tourism industry will be opened next week following a 35-member Chinese delegation arriving in Colombo on May 13 to receive a hands on experience on Sri Lanka's tourism potential so that promotions could be held in China with immediate effect.

The Group is being handled by United Holidays in Colombo. Sri Lankan Airlines will fly them in from Hong Kong to Colombo and the Maldives and back.

This follows the Government of China permitting the promotion of Sri Lanka tourism in that country, a privilege that has been offered to only 22 countries so far.

China has been seen as the most promising emerging market in relation to Japan and India considering their outbound traffic and it will turn around the Sri Lanka's tourist industry, Chairman of United Holidays Afghar Mohideen told the Daily News in an interview.

Mr. Mohideen, an authority in the Sri Lankan travel industry, was a former Chairman of the Travel Agents Association of Sri Lanka (TAASL) and Association of Group Tour Agents (AGTA), the forerunner to the Sri Lanka Association of Inbound Tour Operators (SLAITO). He was also Managing Director of Walkers Tours Ltd, a John Keells Holdings subsidiary in the 1980s.

Mr Mohideen also said that the principal advantage accruing to Sri Lanka from these Chinese tourism promotions was that Chinese tourists had the possibility of arriving in Sri Lanka on a round-the-year basis in contrast to the Continental tourists whose arrivals are the limited to certain specified timeframes.

This 35 member delegation will be arriving in Sri Lanka on May 13 will be in Bentota on May 14, the Maldives on May 14 and May 15 and Sigiriya and Kandy on May 17 and 18 after which they will be leaving for Hong Kong on SriLankan Airlines.

The Ceylon Tourist Board and the National Carrier SriLankan Airlines will hold a presentation for the visiting Chinese delegation during their stay here which will be followed by a Cultural Show which will be hosted by the Ceylon Tourist Board. The two institutions will present the delegation with adequate promotional material which could be made use of in creating awareness on Sri Lanka's tourist attractions on their return to China on May 18.

Mr. Mohideen expressed confidence that there will be a surge of arrivals from China which is expected to grow on a sustainable basis, given the anthropological and cultural similarities between the two countries. Given the numbers, this should be a major tourism promotional drive, he said.

The Daily News in an interview with Tourism Minister Gamini Lokuge on its April 20 edition, exclusively reported that the Government of China had permitted the promotion of Sri Lanka tourism in that country and that over 4,000 tourists were expected here soon after the commencement of the launch. 

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